Difference Between State and Government

State vs Government

In the field of politics, the difference between state and government can be a little confusing. In a very general sense, the word state refers to the present state of someone or something in a given time. It also refers to a governed entity such as a province and even a country as a whole. A government, on the other hand, is a kind of agency through which authority is exercised by political units. The word government is only used as a noun while the word state is used as a noun as well as a verb.

What is a State?

A state, according to the Oxford English dictionary, is ‘a nation or territory considered as an organized political community under one government.’ There are different types of states such as Sovereign state, Member state, Federated state, and Nation state. For example, United States and China are sovereign states. Moreover, a state is an organized political community occupying a part of a territory under one government. Florida is a state of United States. Here you get to see that sometimes a state exists within a state as Florida and Unites States. It is interesting to note that a state generally occupies a certain geographic area. A state is characterized by the presence of culture, language, people and history as well. A state is an independent entity characterized by certain tasks to be carried out.

As a noun, state also means the condition of a person or a thing at a given moment. For example,

As a verb state means expressing something clearly or definitely. This can be either through speech or writing.

The report stated that 100 people were killed in the bomb blast.

This means the report clearly expressed that 100 people were killed in the bomb blast.

What is a Government?

The term government, on the contrary, refers to the civil government of a sovereign state. There are different types of government such as Anarchism, Authoritarian, Communism, Constitutional monarchy, and Constitutional republic, Democracy, Dictatorship, Monarchy, Oligarchy, Plutocracy, Theocracy and Legalism. A government is an organization that has the power to make and enforce laws for a definite territory. The word ‘govern’ has the meaning of ‘power to administrate’.

One of the major differences between a state and a government is that a state is like an organization whereas a government is like a management team. It is interesting to note that these administrative tasks a state has are carried out by the so called government for the proper functioning of the state. In short, it can be said that a government has the complete right to exercise power over people and the region. In other words, a state is the territory and the government has the right to exercise its power over the territory.

What is the difference between State and Government?

• A state is a nation or territory considered as an organized political community under one government.

• There are different types of states such as Sovereign state, Member state, Federated state and Nation state.

• A state can also be an organized political community occupying a part of a territory under one government, like Florida in United States.

• A state is like an organization whereas a government is like a management team.

• One of the important differences between a state and a government is that a state is a geographic entity covering people and trade, whereas a government is a political administration of state or a country.

• As a noun, state also means the condition of a person or a thing at a given moment.

• As a verb state means expressing something clearly or definitely. This can be either through speech or writing.